Star witness Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony before the Jan. 6 committee was that White House counsel Pat Cipollone had glumly told her, on 3 January 2021, that "We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable." Those words got me wondering what, more manageably, every imaginable criminal charge might be. After a bit of searching, turns out that Mr. Cipollone wasn't far off. Let's dive in.
For starters, Donald Trump is facing this trio of legal troubles, probably the most likely of criminal charges: Obstruction of a congressional proceeding — penalty, five years in prison; Defrauding the United States — penalty, five years in prison; Willfully inciting or urging others to engage in a riot — penalty, six months in prison, or, if the riot caused "serious bodily harm" (which it did) or more than $5,000 in property damage (which it did), 10 years in prison.
On 18 Feb. 2022, federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled that three civil suits filed by members of Congress and police officers could proceed against Trump for the violence of Jan. 6. But Judge Mehta additionally found that Trump could be criminally charged with aiding and abetting any Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted police officers. The president, wrote the judge, had created an "air of distrust and anger" through his incessant claims of a stolen election, which amounted to "a call to action." (NYT.)
Trump might also be charged with mishandling national security documents — merely one allegation he quite effectively made against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign. National Archives officials discovered that Trump had taken such documents from the White House to his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. In February 2022, the press asked the Republican National Committee about Trump's seeming hypocrisy. The RNC refused a reply. (NYT.)
In Georgia, Fulton County's (Atlanta) district attorney has convened a special grand jury to hear evidence about Trump's criminal attempt to overturn the state's presidential election of Joe Biden. (Newsweek.) The evidence is clear-cut: The sitting president — on tape — (unsuccessfully) instructed Georgia secretary of state to "find" 11,780 votes, thus changing the result.
On 1 March 2022, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington published a piece titled "President Trump’s staggering record of uncharged criminal misconduct." The article itemized 48 crimes alleged to have been committed by Trump "while he was serving as President of the United States or campaigning for that office." The offenses range from "Causing (or accepting) an individual contribution in excess of the lawful limit" to "Criminal violation of the Ethics in Government Act" to "Seditious conspiracy."
In the way of actual prosecution for any of Trump's criminal activities, former Justice Department official Alan Rozenshtein had this thought: "There’s still a lot of uncertainty about the question of criminal intent when it comes to a president" — one might ask, why only a president? — "but what just happened changed my bottom line. I have gone from Trump is less than likely to be charged to he is more than likely to be charged."
That which "just happened" was, of course, the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is now yet another jittery frog in the Jan. 6 committee's heating pan of water, in which the biggest frog is Trump. And the nation's most pressing question is now this: Will the committee's soon-boiling water slop over to the Justice Department?